zlacker

>>sandsl+(OP)
I'm sure this will get downvoted into oblivion, but why should I or other engineers/entrepreneurs look at Sam Altman as a massive startup success story when his lone startup Loopt never really achieved product-market fit, and ended up in a firesale?

Across 5 funding rounds, Crunchbase lists Loopt as having raised $39 million and then was acquired (acqui-hired?) for $43 million. He didn't create any multiples of value for his investors. Loopt wasn't a breakout hit like so many other YC startups have been. It was certainly one of the first interesting location-based apps in the App Store, but soon was surrounded by other location-based apps and never really appeared to surface and gain traction.

Obviously Sam runs YC now and has dramatically improved it, but in the lens of being an entrepreneur, isn't he still essentially unproven, and not a success story in the startup world?

>>flyosi+ib
I turned out to be a better investor than an entrepreneur (though somewhat to my surprise running YC is more about running a company than being an investor).

I think I've learned a lot from working closely with entrepreneurs that run massively successful companies that's worth sharing.

If you disagree, no one is making you watch this. You're free to hit the back button.

>>sama+pd
@Sama – Your previous failure(s?) is probably (part of) what makes you hungry. If you were already some super-rich, uber successful dude, then why commit yourself so fully to something so hard and so new? You're not some fat happy rich dude like most VCs. You've got something to prove, and that drives you. To me, your past failure is not a liability, but an asset. YC is your chance to make a mark on the world.

(I don't know if this is how you actually feel deep inside, but if it is, I wish you spoke of it so.)